The American government feels Estonia should take on an even greater role in cyber issues, US Ambassador to Estonia Jeffrey Levine has said in commenting on Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves's ongoing visit to the States.

Levine, currently in Washington himself, told ERR radio that it was important that Estonia continue to pursue efforts "both on the cyber security side and the e-governance side."

"We'd like to see Estonia take on a leading role in an even larger region," he was quoted as saying.

One of the first stops for Ilves in Washington was a visit to the National Defense University on August 29. In his address to 600 students there, he said that it no longer held true that a country's territory had to be conquered or military neutralized in order to bring a country to its knees.

The peak moment for Ilves's visit, which lasts through Saturday, will come tonight as he and his Baltic counterparts meet President Obama at the White House.